There has been a lot of press and information lately about the Towers Perrin Worldwide Employee Engagement Study encompassing 90,000 workers in 19 countries.

Here are some of the findings as summarized in The State:

• Engagement is not satisfaction or happiness but the degree to which workers connect to the company emotionally, are aware of what they need to do to add value and are willing to take that action.
• Only 21 percent of workers worldwide are “engaged” while 38 percent are either disenchanted or disengaged, according to a new survey.
• The survey found 21 percent of workers worldwide are engaged, and another 41 percent are “enrolled,” which means they’re on the road to engagement
• More than 80 percent of the engaged employees say they contribute to the quality of the company’s products, services and customer satisfaction, while only 40 percent of disengaged workers agree.
• Engagement helps retention, too: About 50 percent of engaged employees say they have no plans to leave their company, versus 15 percent of the disengaged.
• Companies with highly motivated workers enjoyed a 3.7 percent increase in operating margins and a 2 percent rise in net profits, while companies with a lower level of worker commitment saw both measures decrease slightly.
• What employees are looking for is open communication, communication that reflects the fact that senior management really understands how the work gets done and recognizes and appreciates that.

Employee Engagement Drivers

The top 10 drivers of employee engagement across 19 countries were:

1. Senior management sincerely interested in employee well-being  
2. Improved my skills and capabilities over the last year
3. Organization’s reputation for social responsibility
4. Input into decision-making in my department
5. Organization quickly resolves customer concerns
6. Set high personal standards
7. Have excellent career advancement opportunities
8. Enjoy challenging work assignments that broaden skills
9. Good relationship with supervisor
10. Organization encourages innovative thinking

David Zinger’s Employee Engagement Chronicle is your primary source for current news, views, reviews, and research on employee engagement. Each entry includes a link to an article or post with a short verbatim tidbit from the article. If you are intrigued, I encourage you to click on the author or source name at the start of each summary to study the entire article.

Get the Point

• Engaged employees can answer the the questions of getting, giving, belonging and growing.
• Leadership key: unlock engagement with strong connections.
• Leadership: Stop standing out and start fitting in.
• Empower to engage [Read more...]

David Zinger’s Employee Engagement Chronicle is your primary source for current news, views, reviews, and research on employee engagement.

Each entry includes a link to an article or post with a short verbatim tidbit from the actual article. If you are intrigued I encourage you to click on the author or souce name at the start of each summary to study the entire article.

Get the points:

• Employee engagement is a key interest for HR executives.
• Be a leader of fresh surprise.
• 51% of actively disengaged employees want to fire their boss.

Employee Engagement Articles:

BEST PRACTICES, LLC  offered a press release – Retain Talent and Engage Employees in 2008. Here was the introduction to the release: Talent retention, employee engagement and retirement top the list of interests among 2007′s mix of human resources executives in the Best Practices, LLC’s Global Benchmarking Council. From executive-driven research studies and collaborative participation in surveys to networking events, roundtable discussions and information exchange teleconferences, proactive HR executives shared ideas and insights that helped them succeed this year.

Anna Farmery from the engaging brand blog composed a post on ‘Starck’ Advice on Employee Engagement. She asks a very interesting question of leaders at the end of her post:  So are you a producer…a manager….a bog standard plastic juicer… Or are you a spider juicer……a leader of surprise, a manager of surprise…..one who engages through keeping the work fresh….keeping the team on their toes…constantly redefining their  leadership brand.

Kim Proctor wrote about Employee engagement: the foundation for customer engagement.  Kim cites the Gallup poll about the percentage of employees who would fire their boss based on their level of disengagement. Only 6% of engaged employees would fire their boss; 23% of not engaged employees would fire their boss; and, 51% of actively disengaged employees would fire their boss.

Photo Credit: Chronicle by http://flickr.com/photos/37996586683@N01/110367294/

Compliled by David Zinger

NEW FEATURE: NEWS FEATURE

David Zinger’s Employee Engagement Chronicle provides you with links and short snippets from the most recent writings in the field of Employee Engagement.

This site will feature a regular overview and links to the latest news and writing. There will be a link to an article or post and and a short verbatim tidbit from that post. If you are intrigued I encourage you to click on the author or souces name to read the entire article.

David Zinger’s Employee Engagement Chronicle stives to be your primary source to stay up to date with the news, views, reviews, and research on employee engagement.

Marlene Post wrote about failure to inspire based on the recent Towers Perrin worldwide employee engagement survey: Most of the world’s workers are just not into their jobs. And it’s not pay or benefits they blame, it’s senior management’s failure to inspire them or show an interest in their well-being. Only 21 percent of 88,600 workers surveyed online in 18 countries are “engaged,” or emotionally invested, in their jobs, according to the 2007 Global Workforce Study just released by Towers Perrin, a New York-based global professional services firm.

Tracey E. Schelmetic wrote that for HR Success consider employee engagement: Survey results from a recent International Round-table on the topic of “employee engagement” reveal that organizations with formal employee engagement programs will distance themselves from the competition, particularly in the areas of recruiting, retention and bottom-line financial results. The round-table featured industry experts and co-participants Andy Parsley and David Zinger and was attended by 70 HR professionals and business leaders from Fortune 500 companies.

Rick at Flip Chart Fairy Tales asked: Is a bit of Marxism Good for Managers: If you start from the assumption that alienation is a prevailing force, driving employees towards ever greater disengagement, you realise that management is, in part, an exercise in damage limitation. If you did nothing, your workforce would become more and more disengaged. You need to work hard to counteract this force.  [Read more...]

Today begins a new month. Are you prepared to go all in?

Mike Morrison, the Dean of Toyota University, wrote a wonderful book: The Other Side of the Card: Where Your Authentic Leadership Story Begins. Click here to read a previous article on this book.

I also receive Mike’s newsletter and appreciate the leadership “wake up” calls he sends out.  I loved a recent newsletter about “all in.” Mike used the poker strategy of “all in” to look at when do we go “all in” at work.

Here is a section from that newsletter:

Very few of our activities ever reach this level of commitment – especially in our organizational lives where the game is much more about positioning, politics, and being opportunistic. …I am curious to know the things in your work life where you personally are “all in.”  By “all in” . . . I mean fully committed to a high-level action.  Not just, “I support the initiative but I’m still waiting to see if it gains more momentum across the organization.”  Or, worse yet, “I’m waiting for my boss to weigh in first.” When we are “all in” – we gain the special powers that come from making a commitment.  We are released from the anxiety of waiting and making small incremental gestures – and rewarded with a feeling of confidence for stepping forward.  We also gain access to the additional resources that come our way as others will always gravitate to action, meaning, and leadership. 

Where are you “all in”?  It’s a great question.  Ask your colleagues and team members.  It will give you a sense of what matters most.  It will also give you great insight into the culture – cautious or courageous?  As leaders, we live on the “other side of the card” – willing to take the kinds of risk that create meaningful change!

You can learn more about Mike Morrison and get additional resources at: www.theothersideofthecard.com

When you think about employee engagement, are you all in?

Photo Credit: all in … by http://flickr.com/photos/rezavaziri/778539866/